Streamline vestibule connection



Aprill 28, 1953 H. KUMP STREAMLINE vEsTIBuLE CONNECTION 3 Sheets-Sheet lFiled Jan. 29, 1948 f# fwn-* f INVENTOR En[Henry ffl/:mp M j f lATTORNEY A H. KUMP STREAMLINE vEsTIBULE CONNECTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Jan. 29, 1948 nl m my@ wmf -e A Hm H. KUMP STREAMLINE YESTBULECONNECTION April 28, 1953 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 29, 1948 INVENTORHenry Kum/v ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 28, 1953 UNITED `sTl'l'r-Es PATE NToFFlcE STREAMLINE VESTIBULE CONNECTION T l. t I I l Henry Kump, Berwick,Pa., assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New Jersey Application January 29, 1948, Serial No. 5,153

9 claims. (01.105-10) This invention relates to rail vehicles in generaland in particular to passenger vehicles wherein the vestibule connectionbetween cars is streamlined.

For a considerable time various streamline con- .i

nections between cars have been proposed. Most ofthese proposedconstructions utilized a rigid frame and flexible diaphragm eitherconnected to or pulled back tov/ard the car. With such constructions agap appeared on curves, which gap extended across the car from theoutside to the inside of the curve. In recent years constructions havebeen proposed and used wherein the outer frame was provided with twowings attached tol the central portion or inner passage member. Withsuch a construction in order that the cars could negotiate curves andsince the outer diaphragm was operated in conjunction with the innerfaceplate, it was necessary to provide a considerable sag or loosenessin the upper portion of the outer diaphragm. Since the space adjacentthe coupler was open, air currents could operate on this loose diaphragmand cause it to flap, thereby being noisy and resulting in excessivewear and rather rapid destruction of the ,outer-diaphragm. It is anobject, therefore, of the present invention to provide a construction inwhich a sectional outer faceplate is utilized and so carried by thevehicle that the outer diaphragm is maintained taut at substantially alltimes and over-its entire area.

A further object of the invention is the provi' can be made of constantwidth from end to end.v

A still further object of the invention is the provision ofa streamlineclosure having the outer faceplate assembly made in three partspivotally and slidably connected together.

A yet further object of the invention is the provision of a streamlineor vestibule connection in which the outer faceplate vis made in severalparts, some of which are carried by cantilever arms pivoted to the outerfaceplate and to the vehicle, and other parts are free of any direct orcontrolling connection with the vehicle.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a study of the following description andaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an end view of the improvedvestibul .connection assembly; 1 Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional viewthrough substantiallyone-half, theassembly;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. 1 butwith parts broken away to `condense the figure;

vanchored to the vehicle structure at the Fig. 4 is a sectional viewsimilar to Fig. 2 but taken at a point above the upper buler spring;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged end view of the upper por'- tion of the assemblywith parts broken away to better disclose the construction;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of the outer faceplate pivot and slideconnection;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged detail view of the cantilever pivot andsemi-ellipticspring mounting, and

Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional and end views respectively of a modifiedhinge connection between the parts shown in Fig. 6.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that theimproved streamline vestibule connection has been shown as applied to acar having side walls 2', roof 4 and floor 6 joined by an end wall 8.This end wall is pierced to provide a doorway reenforced at its edges bycollision posts I0. These collision posts are firmly top and at thebottom are securely anchored to heavy end casting I2. This` end or'platform casting has provision' to receive side buffer stems I4 and ifdesired a central'or pivoting buffer stem (not shown). Buffer -stems` I4are urged outwardly by v28, the inner edge of which is similarlyattached by Z-member 30 to the collision posts I0. Above the passagewayan upper buffer spring 32 is mounted on the vehicle and urges the innerfaceplate assembly outwardly away from the car.

The lower buffer springs I6 and upper buier spring 32 are customarilychosen so as to place approximately 2000 pounds pressure on the innerfaceplate when the cars are coupled, to thereby maintain a tightweatherproof connection at all times.

In order to give a' streamline appearance to the vehicles and preventsnow, dirt, etc., from swirling into the space between cars, the' outerdiaphragm or streamline closure 34` is provided.

Thismember .extends eeiingeusly. aeriS-f-Ihe.

vcantilever arms 50 outwardly away `-ever, due to the constant roofbetween the lower edges of the car sides and, due to the constructionlater to be described, can be made of constant width from end to end,thus reducing its cost. This outer closure meinber 34, as shown in Figs.2, 3 and 4, is provided with enlarged end portions 35 gripped by metalmembers 38 fastened to the car end wall and retaining 'the closuremember substantially in alignment with the car sides 2 and roofV 4. Thismanner of attaching the diaphragm is purely representative since mannersuch as shown in Figs. 11jandY 14 of Patent 2,090,492. The outer edge ofdiaphragm it may be attached in some' 4 movement of the inner faceplateassembly will not effect the parallelism of the outer faceplate assemblywith the car end wall, although it will slightly modify the pressureapplied by springs 58. Inward or outward movement of the inner faceplatefrom the uncoupled position of Figs. 2, 3 and 4 will cause the arms 42and central portion 44 to separate slightly, but this movement ispermitted by slot 48 as shown in Fig; 6. During curving of the cars, arm42 will again have to move with respect to central portion 44, but

again such movement is accommodated by slot 48.

or streamline closure 34 is; connected in a simil l lar suitable mannerto an'outer multipart-faceplate assembly. This outer multipart faceplateassembly is made up of a pair of. side pieces 4i) of substantiallyinverted J-shape with the in ,A turned legs 42 connected by means of acentral part 44. The side parts 40 and central part 44 `together Vform amultipart pivotally connected outer faceplate of inverted Usection.Since the parts 40 must move inwardly, aswill later be deiscribed, thepivots 46 are provided with elongated siots48 to accommodate such inwardmove- "ment between the side portions 42 and central por-tion 44 of 'theouter face plate (Fig. 6).

In order to carry the weight of the outer multpart faceplate,ycantilever arms 50 are pivoted as at 52 to the inner faceplate and at54 to the outer faceplate sides 4H inwardly -of the closure 34. Thecantilever arms are preferably of channel cross-section and have mountedtherein a slide structure t6 to which is attached the outer end of a'semi-elliptic spring 58, the inner end of which is firmly anchoredpreferably in the hinge casting E0 attached to the inner faceplateassembly, all as most clearly shown in Figs. 2 and "7. 4As best shown inFig. 1., four cantilever arms are used, namely, two on 'eitherside ofthe inner faceplate assembly and this wili usually be suflicien't exceptwhere excessively heavy ma- 'terial may require an added cantilever Varmon either side. The cantilever arms have been vslf'xov'vn as attached tothe inner faceplate since 'suchj an arrangement gives a slightly reducedcost lof construction, however, Ait -is obvious that due to the pivotalconnections 52 and 54, the buter faceplate assembly is 'movableindependently ofthe inner faceplate assembly. Accordo mgly, at aslightly increased cost of construction modified hinge castings Bt canbe attached to either the collision posts 1U or to the end wall 8, whichwould necessarily 'have to be stiiened for this purpose. 'Such aconstruction would likewise call for lengthening of the cantilever armsT10, but would in no way alter the operation of Athe construction.

.Since the springs 58' are designed to urge the from the end wall, theycause an outward pressure to be applied at the pivot structure 54, butsince this pivot is located inwardly of the diaphragm 34 a .rotativetendency will be imparted to the sides All. This rotative tendency willcause the in.

.turned vportions 4'2 Lto be urged outwardly. Howwidth and directattachment .of diaphragm '34 to the car sides and roof and to the outerfaceplate assembly, the

face, portions of 40 and inturned arms 42 will be held substantiallyparallel 'to the end wall at all times. 'Since the central portion '44is pivotally "and slidably Yconnected to arms 42' it likewiseAwillbe"urged outwardly away from the `ear end wall-and be held parallelthereto. Any or out The relative motion between the side parts 4G Yandcentral part'44can be accommodated by f means of a rubberblock 1Bvulcanized or other- Vwise attached to a Z-shaped plate l2 attached ltoarm 42 and also vulcanized or otherwise secured to a plate i4 fastenedto central part 44, all as clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9. With such aconstruction the relative sliding movement between` arms 42' and centralpart 44 willbeaccom'r'nodated by the rubber acting in shear. Also,theslight' pivotal motion` between the. parts will be accommodated bythe yielding of the rubber in' bothtensi'on and compression.

rthe as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and lfare in the uncoupled position of thecar, that is, the inner faceplate assembly is located longitudinallyoutwardly of the plane ofthe outerfaceplate. When the cars arev coupled,however, the inner faceplate assembly will have its face substantiallyinthe plane of the' outer iacepiate assembly. Extension of the draftgear will, of course, cause the inner faceplate to move toward theposition shown in Figs. 2, '3 'and 4, but such movement willA not effectin vany way the tautness of the outer dia- :phragm Y Inward movement on'buff will, of

ditions. Relative rotation of the vehicles going around a curve willcause the inner faceplate assembly to rotate about such center Cbringing the parts to the line and-dashA position of Fig.2.

-Tiiefdiaphragm 3401i theI inside of the curve will accordingly bewrinkled since the adjacentouter faceplate will be in contactand forcedout of parallelisrnwith the car fend wall, but willremainsubstantially*parallelen/ith the face-of the inner faceplate assembly.Theedge of the inner faceplate opposlte that' 'shown in Fig. 2 will beswung outwardly of its full line position, but since lthe connectionbetween the mnerfaceplate and outer faceplate iscnly thro-ughthe pivotedcantilever arms, the outer faceplate on the outside of the curvev willremain.' in the positionsuch as shown ley-full' line inFig. 4, thatIis', lit willrernain parallel to` the end v'wail' of theA car. Thecentral member 44 will extend from its pivotal connection withone 'armtil 'to its pivotal connection withi'theother arm, that is, it willv liein a plane such as shown byline and dash 8c of Fig. '2. In other wordsjthis memberwill' be moved lout of :parallelism with the end wall butwill be` at a 'lesserangle thereto than ythe outer faceplate 'located atthe "inner ^side of 'the curve. It will thus be seen thatirrespectivewof the in or font 1er curving `Inovera-ents of the cars:relative to each other, at least one of the outer faceplatemembers Itwill likewisebelseen; that since. .the central member 44 is whollyindependent of any connection with the inner faceplate, the'- powerfulsprings I6 and 32 can not effect the diaphragm 34 and thisl diaphragmcan be stretched taut with the tension therein controlled by the springs58 wholly independent of the pressure of springs I6 and 32. As statedpreviously, the pivot castings 60 can be attached to either the car endwall or collision posts, thus completely physically separating the innerand outer faceplates `and permitting a reduction in the length of slot48 of the pivotal connection between the side and central portions ofthe outer faceplate. The operation of the construction with casting 6Gattached to the vehicle directly Will be the same as that previouslydescribed in connection with the form shown.

Although the invention has been shown and described with particularreference to the gures, it will be apparent to persons skilled in theart that modications other than those shown and described may be madeand all such modifications are contemplated as will fall within thescope of the following claims defining my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle having sides and a roof joined by an end wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge secured to the vehicle and forming substantially acontinuation of the sides and roof beyond the end wall, a multi-partfaceplate assembly secured to the outer edge of the diaphragm,cantilever arms supporting said assembly and being pivotally connectedto said faceplate assembly adjacent their outer ends and to a portion ofthe vehicle adjacent their inner ends, and resilient means urging saidcantilever arms and multipart assembly outwardly away from said endwall, said multi-part faceplate assembly comprising side pieces and acentral piece pivoted to the upper portions of said side pieces andsupported solely thereby.

Z. A vehicle having sides and a roof joined by an end wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge secured to the vehicle and forming substantially acontinuation of the sides and roof beyond the end Wall, a multi-partfaceplate assembly secured to the outer edge of the diaphragm andcompris- .ing a pair of side pieces, a central piece flexibly connectingthe side pieces adjacent their upper ends and supported thereby,cantilever arms pivotally connected adjacent their inner ends to saidvehicle structure and at their outer ends to said side pieces inwardlyof the diaphragm, and resilient means urging said cantilever armsoutwardly away from said end wall whereby said diaphragm will bemaintained taut and substantially in alignment with the roof and sidesof the vehicle.

3. A vehicle having sides and a roof joined by an end wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge secured to the vehicle and forming substantially acontinuation of the sides and roof beyond the end wall, a multi-partfaceplate assembly secured to the outer edge of the diaphragm andincluding a pair of independent side pieces, cantilever arms pivotallyconnected at one end to a portion of the vehicle and at the other end tosaid side pieces inwardly of the diaphragm, resilient means urging saidcantilever arms and side pieces outwardly away from said end wall, saidmulti-part assembly also including a central piece exibly connecting theupper ends of said side pieces and urged outwardly thereby.

4. A vehicle having sides and a roof joined by an end wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge secured to the vehicle and forming substantially acontinuationof the sides and roof. beyond the end wal1a multi-partfaceplate assembly secured v:assembly also including a central piecepivotally and slidably-.connected to the upper end portions of said sidepieces and urgedoutwardly thereby.

5. A vehicle having sides and a roof joinedby an end wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge connected to the vehicle and forming substantiallya continuation of the sides and roof beyond the end wall, an outerfaceplate assembly secured t0 the outer edge of the diaphragm andcomprising a pair of side pieces and a central piece pivotallyconnecting the upper end portions of said side pieces, an innerfaceplate assembly free of direct connection to said central piece,cantilever arms pivotally connected to said inner faceplate and to saidside pieces, and semi-elliptic springs anchored on said inner faceplateassembly and bearing on said cantilever arms to urge the same outwardlyfrom the vehicle end wall.

6. A vehicle having sides and a curved roof joined by an end wall, adiaphragm having the inner edge connected to the vehicle and formingsubstantially a continuation of the sides and roof beyond the end wall,an outer faceplate assembly secured to the outer edge of the diaphragmand comprising a pair of side pieces and a central piece conforming tothe roof curvature and pivotally connecting the upper ends of said sidepieces, an inner faceplate assembly, cantilever arms pivotally connectedto said inner faceplate and to said side pieces and forming the soleconnection between said outer and inner faceplate assemblies.

7. A vehicle having sides and a roof joined by an end wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge connected to the vehicle and forming substantiallya continuation of the sides and roof beyond the end wall, an outerfaceplate assembly secured t0 the outer edge of the diaphragm andcomprising a pair of side pieces and a central piece pivotallyconnecting the upper end portions of said side pieces, an innerfaceplate assembly, and cantilever arms providing the sole connectionbetween said outer and inner faceplate assemblies, said cantilever armsbeing pivotally connected to said assemblies whereby said innerfaceplate assembly may move longitudinally of the vehicle independentlyof said outer faceplate assembly.

8. A vehicle having sides and a roof joined by an end Wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge connected to the vehicle and forming substantiallya continuation of the sides and roof beyond the end wall, an outerfaceplate assembly secured to the outer edge of the diaphragm andcomprising a pair of side pieces and a central piece connected to theupper end portions of said side pieces by rubber shear units wherebysaid pieces may pivot and slide relative to each other by the tensioncompression and shearing action of the rubber, and cantilever armspivotally connected at one end to said vehicle structure and at theother end to said side pieces inwardly of the diaphragm.

9. A vehicle having sides and a roof joined by an end wall, a diaphragmhaving the inner edge connected to the vehicle and forming substantiallya continuation of the'sides and roof beyond the end wall, an outerfaceplate assembly secured

